SPOTLIGHT: Saime @Daartagnaan

It’s an honour today to bring this interview with Saime to the blog today.

The lovely Saime (@daartagnaan on Instagram) is an awesome artist who draws and paints stunning mandalas, and showcases her beautiful work on Instagram! I’m in love with her intricate mandala drawings and paintings, and in total respect of her amazing talent and dedication.

Welcome, Saime 🙂

-Marryam x

Where are you located?
I’m not only living in Austria, I was also born in a small village in the countryside in lower Austria, where my parents decided to build us a cosy beautiful home 🙂

In one sentence, describe your motivation in life:
Everything comes and goes, only Allah is forever – so trust in His bigger plans for you.

Tell us the story of how you got started with your artwork/business:
Actually I was working on my master degrees when I started painting again, it was something to do with getting away from the stress of finishing University. Though I loved drawing when I was younger, I could never hold on to it. I don’t know why actually – I guess I was too preoccupied with leading a grown up life 🙂

However I soon decided to make it part of my life again. I started with no ruler, no special pens and just some paper I found in one of my drawers. So pretty much from nothing, but I guess that’s the beauty of drawing and painting etc – you don’t need fancy pens or special paper to get creative.

Just do it, there are no limits .. only the ones in your head!

What is one of your favourite pieces of work (your own) and why?
One of my favourite pieces is my first dotwork piece ever .. it was my first special “challenge” at that point, and after it was shared even on the Instagram feed of artfido I was like: OMG did that really happen? And it made me realise, that I am capable of so much more and that I have to improve myself by challenging my hands and imagination with different ideas.

What has been the highlight or ‘I can’t believe this!’ moment so far on your artistic/entrepreneurial journey?
I guess the moment @artfido shared my pictures on their Instagram page. It was such an honor! But also when one of my favourite artists on Instagram @murderandrose left comments on my pictures. It’s that moment you can’t believe because the artists you were inspired from, are suddenly liking your artwork and getting inspired by it themselves.

How does your faith affect your approach to your art/business?
My faith didn’t really affect my artwork until the point that I realised that Islamic culture is full of inspiring elements. I started collecting small pieces of different artwork that were inspired by Islamic tradition like carpets, books, postcards, paintings and so on. I tried to merge my art with my roots – did I mention that I have a turkish background yet? 🙂

What/where/who inspires you?
Aw there are soo many beautiful artists on Instagram – not only people who are doing especially the same art like me, but also people like you 🙂 with beautiful handwriting. And when I meet other young Muslims who do art like i do, that inspires me a lot more because it makes me proud to see, that my sisters and brothers in Islam are trying to bring this “lost” history of creativity back to life.

How do you handle the inevitable creative block, where you feel like you are the most uncreative person alive and you’re never going to succeed??
Is it awkward to say that I’ve never had one of these moments? Of course a lot of pieces have kept me up all day and night because they didn’t look like I wanted them to. But I never denied that I could do it better – I think that’s what keeps me going.

I dont want to sound like one of those people who think that their art is the most beautiful and the best, thats not what I’m trying to say – but putting yourself down when you’re in creative block moments such as these is unnecessary.

If I’m not in the mood to draw or if I’m like “okay today I don’t want to touch anything”, I suggest just don’t do it, give yourself some rest and come back with much more energy 🙂

What 2 pieces of advice, based on your own experience, would you give to a fellow artist/entrepreneur starting out?
1. Never try to be someone else – of course get inspired and get in touch with other artists, but forget about being like them.
2. Be so much more! You have another background, other talents, other ideas .. don’t try to fit them into the work of someone else, do your own thing!

Favourite Social Media or Marketing Platform?
Instagram 🙂

If you could travel to one place anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
Mardin in Turkey

Where would you love to see your business in 5 years time?
That’s hard to say 🙂 I dont want to dehumanize my passion. I’m not doing it to become rich or get super famous – thats not the reason I started it in the first place. It was something for me, something I could improve for myself. I want to touch people with my art, I want to inspire them .. that’s what it is all about.

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Salams and Welcome!

We're an Australian muslim couple who love finding inspiration in the beautiful & amazing creations around us.

We're always aiming to make this space a source of encouragement to our readers (and us!) to dream big, constantly improve, & find ways to live wholeheartedly, while integrating faith and everyday living :)